02
Apr
2008
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
On more than one occasion I have been approached at an event and sooner or later the topic turns to Ontario Wineries that I like (who is worth visiting, who’s making the best wine, etc.), those who have read my articles inevitably state, “… but you don’t like Tawse very much do you.” It’s time I clarify my position about Tawse Winery – it is not that I dislike Tawse, in fact I think the owner Moray Tawse is a genuinely affable and gentle gentleman. What I dislike is paying $50 for a bottle of wine, I don’t like the fact that an upstart is asking $40+ for a Chardonnay while some the old guards who paved the way for this upstart to open in the first place, asks $20 (my feeling is you have to build a reputation before you ask for the big dollars), and, on one specific occasion, I don’t like being told I have to buy x-number of bottles of a particular wine. That all said I have never denied Tawse Winery their due when it comes to the taste of their wines – case on point, my glowing review of their 2005 Echos Bistro Red was made quite public in (the LCBO’s) Vintages magazine when the wine was released. I’ve also written highly about their 06 Echos Red, 06 Echos White, 04 Riesling and 06 Chardonnay Musque (even though I wasn’t allowed to buy “just a few bottles”). But I still get, “You don’t like Tawse.”
Well a new day has dawned at Tawse Winery and it shows to me they are going in the right direction ... (Read more)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
31
Mar
2008
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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy
Hamilton’s Food and Drink Fest is now in it’s 3rd year and I can definitely see that it’s getting bigger … more folks showed up than I saw last year, the place was a sell-out for exhibitors (as every possible corner was filled with a booth), food, wine and beer were all given equal billing and the spacing out of these booths was well managed – meaning that all the wines weren’t in one place and all the beers in another, a good mixtures was to be found in all the aisles – you could sample as you saw fit. A young wine show always has glitches and I noticed two minor issues this year. One, which prevented me from really tasting the wines, was the glass (same as last year) – great little vessel for beer, spirits and port, but not very wine-tasting-friendly. The second was the lack of dump buckets for unwanted/unfinished libations – some very major wine pouring booths (ie: Churchill Cellars with a dozen or more wines) didn’t have a single dump bucket, which meant you had to cross the floor to find a garbage can and by then your attention drifted elsewhere. Good for you, not so good for Churchill. These are minor issues that did not affect the show to any degree for the hundreds that came through the door on this night – in fact, maybe it’s just me being nit-picky.
So this year’s Fest was all about food and beer for me … last year I wrote about the wine and food, this year I decided to focus my attention in a different way. In no way was I able to visit or taste everything, so I went in search of beef and beer ... (Read more)
To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.
